Conservative commentators took issue with the film's supposed themes of "orphan adoption by two dads, homoerotic attraction, and penis jokes."

The new Lego Batman Movie has come under fire from Catholic evangelists who have slammed the film as “pro-gay propaganda”.

John Henry Westen, Canadian Editor-in-chief of the socially conservative website LifeSiteNews.com, posted a review of the film titled “BEWARE: LEGO Batman movie promotes gay adoption”. He criticised the creators for being “so anxious to subtly indoctrinate the little ones into the gender ideology that making it humorous came as a distant second thought.”

LifeSiteNews is part of the Campaign Life Coalition, an anti-abortion, anti-same-sex marriage political lobbyist organisation.

Westen also referenced a review by Michael Hamilton of conservative blog website PJ Media. In the blog, Hamilton summarises the film as “orphan adoption by two dads, homoerotic attraction, and penis jokes.” He then takes issue with the filmmakers for making such acts “seem plain as vanilla and American as apple pie.”

The Lego Batman Movie, which focuses on the relationship between the two superheroes Batman and Robin, is a spin-off from The Lego Movie, released in 2014.

The franchise faced criticism then too, as conservative commentators took issue with the alleged likeness between the antagonist “Mr Business” and Republican former presidential nominee Mitt Romney.